![]() ![]() There aren’t many photos of the Situation Room, but one of the most famous is the image of Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Biden and others watching the bin Laden operation. A 2-foot (0.6-meter) seal is positioned at the president’s end of the room, larger than the old seal. A giant, high-tech screen runs the length of the back wall. The JFK room has a long wooden table with six leather chairs on each side and one at the head for the president. A room once taken up by computer servers has become a smaller conference room. The new space was designed so panels can be removed and updated and new technology swapped in, usually with less space needs. Gustafson said the goal is to never need a complete renovation again. It’s the “whizzer,” stemming from the complex’s acronym: WHSR. ![]() The complex is staffed around the clock by military and civilian personnel who monitor breaking developments worldwide.įor those in the know, referring to the “sit room” is out. Presidents used the complex for secure video conferences before such tech became more portable. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the White House did a significant Situation Room update, along with a broader upgrade to presidential communications on Air Force One and the presidential helicopter. But it wasn’t exactly comfortable: Nixon administration national security adviser and then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger described the space as “uncomfortable, unaesthetic and essentially oppressive.”Īfter the Sept. Kennedy believed there should be a dedicated crisis management center where officials could coordinate intelligence faster and better. The hush-hush complex was created in 1961 by the Kennedy administration after the Bay of Pigs invasion. The 5,500-square-foot, highly secure complex of conference rooms and offices in the West Wing has undergone a gut renovation that took a year to complete. This image provided by the White House shows the completed renovations of the White House Situation Room on Aug. Illuminated signs flash green for declassified and red for classified. Even the contractors working on the renovation had to get temporary security clearances. Anyone listening in on classified briefings needs clearance. (There are cubbies to stow phones near a door leading outside, where a baggie with some cocaine was found earlier this year.)Īccess is tightly controlled and generally restricted to the president’s national security and military advisers. The whole space has that new car smell.īut there are still plenty of landline phones: No cellphones are allowed in the secure space for security reasons. See-through glass offices fade to opaque with the press of a button. Old floors, furniture, computers and other tech were stripped out and replaced with pristine mahogany paneling from Maryland, stonework from a Virginia quarry, LED lights that can change colors and flat-screen panels. The renovated space has a modern-but-vintage vibe. “My thanks to everyone who worked on this incredible facility. “Folks, the newly renovated White House Situation Room is up and running,” Biden said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. New book details Biden-Obama frictions and says Harris sought roles ‘away from the spotlight’
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |